What if Women Went on Strike?
It may be the only solution to the unequal division of household chores.
My levels of cleanliness leave a lot to be desired — in some of my smaller flats, I have lived for days with piles of dirty laundry on top of piles of dirty dishes. I sometimes stumble across moldy Tupperware in bags not used for months. I remain convinced that the only reason to do the washing-up is when there is nothing clean left, and the thing you need is lost at the very bottom of the sink.
Still, each time I found myself living with boyfriends, I ended up being the one that cleaned — not because they were expressly unwilling to do it, but because I broke first. I was the first to no longer be able to bear the squalor — which is saying a lot.
Last year, I lived with two male flatmates and was amazed at how instinctively they seemed to wait for me to do the housework. We didn’t see each other often, all of us were busy. I would only return to the flat every few days since I had basically moved in with my then-boyfriend.
Each time I returned, I found the sink towering with dishes, the bin full, the bathroom flooded. I felt like I was engaged in a staring war, all of us waiting out the others to see who would cave.
